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July 5 1927.

1,634,556 H. P. RHODES ET AL MACHINE'FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC PACKING Filed Dec. 26 i 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 1,6345 July H. P. RHODES ET AL 56 MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC PACKING Filed Dec; 26, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuenlfoz 4 1,634,556 i! 1927' H. P. RHODES E MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC PACKING Filed Dec. 26. '1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ill/l v I gwuml-foz anionic I July 1927' H. P. RHODES ET AL MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC PACKING Filed Dec. 26, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 4 q 7 r y .I Z A- li f A I I v 6 7. O m K Il 1/ III: Nw Mfi w Patented July 5,, 1927.

UNITED STATES waste PATENT OFFICE.

HAMPTON P. RHODES AND RICHARD F. KREITER, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS; SAID KREITEE ASSIGNOB TO SAID RHODES.

MACHINEFOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC PACKING.

Application filed December 26, 1925. Serial No. 77,880.

Our invention relates to a machine for the manufacture of flexible metallic packing foruse in packing moving rods or shafts and particularly adapted for use where heat 1s encountered.

It is an object of the invention to construct a packing of this nature in a manner which is practically automatic. It 18 desired that the materials may be fed to the machine and passed therethrough for the forming of the packing and discharged as a finished product without the necessity of any manual operation during the construction of the finished packing.

It is also an object that the device be constructed simply and adapted to open so that the operating parts may be available for inspection and repair, when necessary.

It is also an object to provide a device of the character stated wherein the parts may be adjustable for the formation of packing of different sizes, as desired. The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the parts which will be described in detail in the specification which follows:

Referring to the drawing herewith, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our device showing a guide in central vertical section. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a forming machine. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section through the apparatus shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an elevation of one of the guide plates. Fig. 5 is a tranverse section on the plane 5-5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a similar-section on the plane 66 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the lower guide plate, and Fig. 8 is a transverse section showing the type of packing formed with our apparatus. Like numerals of reference are employed to design-ate like parts in all the views.

Our invention is an improvement upon the construction shown in a prior Patent No. 1,556,031, issued October 6th, 1925. It

comprises a mounting in vertical alignmentof a series of form rollers. These rollers being mounted upon two upright plates.

rearwar'dly for support within the frame of the apparatus. This frame comprises a forwardupright 4' and asimilar rear set of uprights 5. Upon therear side of the plate 1 are brackets 6, supporting the rearwardly extending series 0f-a1'ms.7, and we have shown four of such arms. The said arms are curved slightly toward the plate Qand formed with openings therein to receive,

pins 8.

Upon therearward side of the plate 2 is a similar set of brackets 9, secured to the plate and having an arm 10 on the inner slde of the said bracket, sald arms being curved toward the plate 1 and formed with openings therein to receive the pins 8, thereby forming a series of hinges set in vertical alignment behind the supporting plates and upon which the plate 2 may be swung to the rear, together with the rollers mounted thereon.

Upon the plate 1 are mounted a series of forming rollers to receive the packing material. lVe have shown two sets of rollers 11 upon the plate 1. and two similar co-operating sets of rollers 12 upon the plate 2. The two sets are mounted horizontally and also in vertical alignment, the two horizontal sets being spaced so as to contact. at their edges. Above the two pairs of rollers, just described, are two further pairs 18 and 14 mounted upon the plate 1 and the plate 2 respectively, these rollers being of smaller diameter than the two lower ones and acting to finish the process of forming the packing.

Each of the forming rollers is made in a similar manner. As shown best in Fig. 1, there is a removable body having a central groove 15 with flanges 16 on each side thereof, said flanges being spaced apart the proper distance to receive the size of packing which is to be formed. The height of the flange beyond the central groove 15 is sufficient to compress the packing to a predetermined size. At the inner side of each roller and fixed to rotate with the said roller is a gear 17 of such size as to engage with an idle gear 18 mounted upon the panel 1. At one side of and between each of the vertically arranged rollers 1111 and 1313 on said panel 1, the gear 18 meshes with the gear 17 upon the adjacent vertical rollers, and thus causes each right-hand roller on the panel 1' to rotate in the same direction.

em upon the shaft.

The gears of each of the horizontally arranged pairs of rollers mesh with each other, causing them to rotate in opposite direc tions. By so doing, it will be noted the upwardly moving portion of the roller adjacent the center where the packing is received will be moving in the same direction, and it is contemplated that this motion will be in an upward direction, shown by the arrow upon the said 1' llers.

'Each of. the forming rollers is mounted upon the central shaft 19, and as will be noted from Fig. 3, the gear 17 of each roller is formed integrally with a hub or sleeve 20 upon which the .o rooyed portion 21 of the roller is fixed. The nut 22 upon the sleeve 20 serves to lock the part 21 upon its sleeve. Anti-friction bearings 23 may be employed between the sleeve 20 and the shaft 19 to facilitate the rotation of the roll- The forward end of each shaft 19 is reduced in diameter, as shown at 24, and a link 25 is pivoted to each of the parts 24: of the shafts, sho vn best in Fig. 2. A lock nut 26 spaces the lini: from the gland 27 at the outer end of the roller bearing 23. A similar nut 28, upon the outer end of the shaft, serves to retain the link in position.

Each of the shafts 19 upon the plate 2 is constructed in the same manner as those upon the plate 1, and the links 2:") are formed with notches 29 adapted to engage over the.

shafts 19 of the plate 2, and thus hold the two adjacent shafts in spaced position so as to hold the gears 17 on the rollers in contact with each other. It will be obvious, therefore, that when desired the nuts 28 upon the ends of the shafts may be loosened so as to swing each of the links upwardly away from the adjacent shaft, thereby making it possible to s ring the plate 2 upon its hinges, as previously described, thus allowing access to the interior portion of each of the roller. and the gears thereon.

Between each of the vertical pairs of rollers, we employ guide plates 30 and 31. The outer guide plate 30 is adjustable, while the inner plate 31 is stationary. lVith reference to Fig. 5, it will be noted that the said guide plates are mounted upon a shaft 32 projecting through from the rear side of the plate 1 and having on the end of said shaft to the rear of the plate 1 a thumb nut 33 keyed to the shaft by the key 34: and held in position thereon by an outer nut The said shaft projects through the hub 36 of the plate 31 and also through the plate 1, and is held in position by the thumb nut 33 and the lock nut 35. A radial flange 37 is formed on sa d shaft adjacent the plate 31 and the forward end. of the shaft beyond the said flange is threaded, as shown at 38, and the hub 39 of the plate 30 is formed with a threaded'opening therein to receive said shaft. It will thus be noted that the rotation of the thumb nut 33 will cause the rotation of the shaft 32 and thus move the plate 30 either in a forward or rearward direction, depending the direction'of rotation of the shaft. in this manner, the guide plates may be spacer the proper distance apart to accommodate the size of packing which is being formed. As shown particularly in 2, the guide plates are formed to fit the space betwee. and lower sets o rollers, there being: upper and lower pointed ends fitting between the sides of the adjacent rollers.

The packing: which s to be former machine is made up of ribbons of thinmetal 40, such as babbi or.lead. These ribbons are contemplated being mounted-on spools from which the ribbon is carried upwardly between two concentric cones 1-1 and 42 of sheet metal. These cones are spaced apart suliiciently to allow the ribbons to be drawn upwardly between them and the apex of each cone is open to allow the ribbons to pass upwardly from the opening in tae apex of the cones between a set of guide rollers it s intended to form a central core 4 1- within the pa I .lringr, said core being preferably made of asbestos wiclring' saturated with lubricant. Vi e have also shown a plurality of threads of similar asbestos cord or wiching drawn up with ribbons so as to be spaced apart therein, as shown in Fig. 8. The ribbons are spaced apart so that when they are crumpled together at the apex of the guide cones n and 41-2, they will tend to interlock in the manner shown in Fig. 8.

The guide rollers e3 are mounted for acjustnient, as shown particularly in Fig. 6. it bracket 46 is secured to the lower face of the plate 1, the bracket being extended forwardly to space the arm 47 somewhat away from the plate. Said arm i7 is pr rided with two threaded openine's 48 th rein to receive the guide nuts 49. Adjace plate 1 is secured a plate 50 having two open ngs therein aligned with the openings 4-8 to receive the shafts 51, upon which the said guide rollers l3 are ri'itatable. The plate 50 adjacent the rollers 43 has an upward extension'52 thereon fitting between the sides of the dances upon the rollers. To the outer side of the guide rol ers 43 is a plate mounted upon lie shafts 5i and shaped also to it between the flanges and rollers ll and 12. will be seen from Fig. 6, the nuts e29 are tubular so as to receive the shafts 51 therethrough, and the inner ends of said nuts adapted to contact with the hubs of the plates This construction is adopted so that the plate may be adjusted toward or away from the plate 51 so as to receive guide rollers 43 of different lengths to accommodate packing of different sizes. The outer ends of the the upper V l by this nuts 49 are provided with thumb holds so that the said nuts may be adjusted for this purpose.

In the operation of this device, the power may be applied to a pulley 55 mounted upon the shaft in the frame of the machine and operatively connected through a series of gears with the shaft 56 which may be connected with any one of the operating rollers, and we have contemplated connecting the same with one or the intermediate gears 18. The manner in which this connection is made, however, is not a material part of our invention' While we have shown in Figs. 2 and .3 the use of tour horizontally arranged sets of rollers, we may use more or less than this number, and'in Fig. 1 we have shown six such sets. The devices shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are other-wise identical and it is to be understood that we are not limited to any particular number or arrangement of the rollers 11, 12, 13 and 14, it being understood that any number may be employed.

The operation of the device will cause the forming rollers to rotate in such manner as to draw the ribbons 3 .0 and the asbestos cords 44 upwardly through the guide cones and between the guide rollers 41 into the space between the opposite sets of forming rollers. e have shown the grooves 15 within the rollers as adapted to form a square packin as will be seen from Fig. 5. The materials forming the packing will, therefore. be drawn into and compressed between the two lower sets of rollers forming a packing partially compressed. This partially compressed packing is then drawn between upper sets of rollers 13 and 14 and thereby further compressed and passed upwardly out of the machine. Ordinarily, there will be mounted upon the upper end of the machine a braiding device whereby a fabric covering is woven about the packing as it passes from the machine, but this device forms no part of our invention and is not shown.

It will be understood that when the packing materials are mounted so as to be threaded upwardly through the forming machinery, no further attention is necessary. The operation of the device will draw the oat-kiln unvardl Y and com ress it in the l :3

manner d sired, and discharge itrfrom the machine in completed torm. The device is not only simple in construction, but is quite accessible for repair or inspection for any purpose by the simple process of unlatching the torward ends of the shafts 24 on the plate 22, and thus permitting the plate with the rollers thereon to be swung to one side,

allowing inspection and adjustment of the parts. This is particularly advantageous when the forming portion of the roller is to be changed so as to produce a packing of different dimensions. The further advantages of the device, will be obvious to those skilled in the art. I

What we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: Y

1. In an apparatus 01" thec'haracter described, an upright supporting plate, a series of vertically disposed forming rollers mounted for rotation thereon, a smaller plat-e adjacent to said first-named plate,

hinges connecting said plates and upon which said smaller plate is adapted to swing, a series of rollers on said smaller plate cooperating with said forming rollers to grip a cable between them, means to feed flexible of each said pair detachably together, guide rollers below said forming rollers, and means to rotate said forming rollers.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a series of sets of opposed forming rollers the peripheries of which are grooved to receive and shape a packing cable, means to guide packing material to said rollers, comprising guide cones, and a pair of idle rollers mounted in aligned position below said forming rollers, and means to rotate said rollers to draw the packing material between them.

4. In an apparatus of the character described,'a pair of supporting plates, a plurality of pairs of superposed forming rollers mounted with one roller of each'pair on one plate and the cooperating roller on the other plate to provide a forming space be tween them, gears connecting said rollers, whereby each roller may be positively operated, means to lock said plates to secure said rollers rigidly in spaced relation, said plates being hinged to allow said rollers to be swung apart, and means to vary the size of the forming space between said rollers.

In testimony whereof we hereunto affix our signatures this 19th day of December, A. D. 1925.

HAMPTON P. RHODES. RICHARD F. KREITER. 

